


Our treasure

by sassamifrass



Category: Mystic Messenger (Video Game), Persona Series
Genre: Character Death, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, Multi, also autopsies are mentioned although not graphically described so be warned, alternate universe - persona series, but uh pretty nasty stabbing even if you only know it happened, not graphically described stabbing, only uses mystic messenger characters, warning there is stabbing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-11
Updated: 2017-10-11
Packaged: 2019-01-16 02:04:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12333258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sassamifrass/pseuds/sassamifrass
Summary: This is a series of vignettes written around the concept of placing the RFA into the Persona universe. Mostly uses Persona 5 lore, although some Persona 3 and 4 influence also. It just covers the key plot moments.The RFA are a group of vigilantes who go around stealing from the rich to give to the poor, using palaces. They were initiated by two researchers, V and Rika, who worked for the shadowy ECHO organisation, which had conducted extensive research into the cognitive world. Unfortunately, this research involved destroying the lives of two twins... until they were able to escape with the help of V and Rika. But now Rika has disappeared, and against V's wishes, the RFA are going to find out why, by wearing extremely cool outfits and shouting PERSONA a lot.This is a birthday gift for my friend Fo. Yeah, I know I already posted one, but I got too excited and posted it days early, whereas I FORCED myself to hold back on this one until it was ACTUALLY an appropriate time to post. Also this gave me more editing time (shoosh). This is very much written with a JRPG vibe, so expect dramatic gestures and grinding. Actually I removed the grinding. That can all happen offscreen (yay!)





	Our treasure

**Author's Note:**

  * For [fothetinyotter](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fothetinyotter/gifts).



> There's like, one or two in-jokes in this, but absolutely nothing that will at all affect your appreciation of the actual story~ <3
> 
> Again, this is a series of plot beats rather than one flowing tale! Just wanted to explore this AU idea a little as a birthday gift!

"PERSONA!"

The scream is torn from your lips almost against your will. Forced out by the power surging through your body. But even as the sensation of your soul being torn from your physical form begins to overwhelm you, it also feels...

_...really... good..._

"Wow! So this is your rebellious spirit, huh?" You barely hear his words over the sound of your soul screaming. You want to answer, but the other you has other ideas:

“Vydra! Slap them down!”

A vast wave of water and a deep, musical laugh knock the Shadows over where they stand. "What the hell?!" one squeals, waving its feet in the air in panic.

A small voice calls out triumphantly. "They've given us an opening! Everyone, attack!"

You glance down at the weapon that has materialised around your hands. Shining, heavy knuckledusters, delicate seashells etched into the metal. It’s perfect. As the others rush to attack the downed enemies, you leap into the fray, and bring your fist down swiftly onto a Shadow’s head, as it dissipates into colourful mist.

Not entirely understanding why, you strike a pose, thrusting your fist into the swirling Shadow-mist drifting away over your head. “MY FIST COMES OUT THROUGH HERE!!!”

“You - what?!” another voice calls out in surprise, and you turn to see one of the other fighters – _Persona users –_ your mind corrects. His blonde hair spikes out over the top of a barbarian mask. “Did you just say…?”

“Oh my god. I love it.” The one who called to you before grins as he walks over. His golden eyes glint with delight. “Please, please tell me you want to join the RFA.” The mask he wears… it reminds you of a fairytale… something about a mysterious, grinning cat… a-and is that a tail?! He sees you staring, and flicks his tail over one shoulder, raising one eyebrow. “Nya-ice to meet you.”

“Hmmm. They’d be a valuable asset, with skills like that,” replies someone from hip-level. You look down to see a two-foot tall fox. Wearing a leopard print cape. Which. Normally, would be weird, but today –

“Yeah, agreed.” The newest speaker steps into view, and you notice he’s wearing an identical copy of the golden eyed speaker’s outfit – but without a mask. His eyes are a mint green, and where the other person was wearing white and reds, he wears blues and inky purple. “You’ll join us, won’t you?” He extends a gloved hand to you, as the cat-masked individual elbows him.

“Heyyyyyyyyy!! I saw them first, Cheshire 2~”

“That is _NOT_ my code name,” the other responds, giving his mirror image a light thump on the head. “and you know it, idiot.”

“Waaaaaahhhhh!” The Cheshire-masked bandit leaps onto the golden-haired warrior, mock-crying. “Save me! Cheshire 2 is bullying me, nya~”

“Knock it off, you two.” The fox eyes you thoughtfully. “So. Wanna know more about your powers?”

-oOo-

“I could show you a reality… where everyone’s heart was laid bare. Where everyone was honest, and anyone dishonest could be made truthful once more. A place where the sins of humanity could be washed clean.”

Jumin’s father smiles at the woman, leaning forwards in his chair. “With that beautiful face and your compelling research notes, I assure you, you have my full attention.”

“Father…” Jumin’s eyes flick between the two seated figures. “You can’t expect me to support this new project without-“

The woman cuts him off with a smile. “Invest in my research, and we can create a Paradise together… Jumin Han.”

-oOo-

The RFA – Rika’s Fundraising Organisation.

A charitable group of vagabonds who enter the Palaces of financially wealthy, but morally bankrupt individuals – and then convinces their ‘other halves’ to donate vast sums of money to charity.

Every member had their own story as to how they were recruited into the organisation. Luciel  (Codename: Cheshire) and Ray (Codename: Fang) had been the first, although you couldn’t seem to get a straight answer from either of them as to the exact details. Something about being abandoned by their family, and being forced to take part in dangerous experiments that lead them to break through into the cognitive world. But the twins, with the help of two researchers, Rika and V, had managed to turn the tables and free themselves, destroying the organisation behind the experiments in the process.  

They were aided greatly by Vanderwood (Codename: Stark), the strange, anthropomorphic fox who appeared in the real world as… an actual fox, albeit one that could speak. He was the result of the experiments, also – animal testing had taken place long before the twins were brought into the shadowy organisation’s clutches. Vanderwood had spent much more time in the other world than anyone else – and it was his experience that allowed the twins to become far more powerful than their captors had anticipated.

Alone, Luciel and Ray were powerful Persona users, but if they concentrated and worked as one, they could summon far stronger, far more dangerous beings. However, their individual powers worked quite differently, as they had both been forced into the cognitive world using very different methods – V had lead the research team that had introduced Luciel to the world of Palaces, and Rika’s team had managed Ray’s progression.

Twins are a popular choice for human experiments. Examine the different effects, across two near-identical individuals…

At any rate, this was all the information you could glean about why Luciel summoned his Persona by revealing the face under his mask – but Ray’s could only be called by holding a gun to his own head. And firing.

“They’re trauma bullets,” Vanderwood had explained, although… _what kind of an explanation was that?!”_

Both had suffered while under the control of ECHO, the mysterious organisation. But it was clear that Ray’s scars went deep indeed… he suffered from heaches and pains his twin did not.

Then there were the others.

Yoosung (Codename: Superman) a college slacker who had become entangled with the twins after stumbling into an operation in progress on his way to visit Rika – his cousin. His outfit was a warrior’s. It made for an odd match with his Persona, a soft-looking rabbit – although that bunny could pack a punch.

Zen (Codename: Statue) an actor whose connections had proved invaluable time and time again. They had originally entered his Palace assuming he was rich, only to learn that all the rumours about Zen were false – he in fact still earned very little, and was very generous with his time, giving many performances for the sake of charity. So his Palace of Ego had remained untouched, although they’d had a close shave when he’d accidentally followed them inside his own mind and seen his vanity reflected there…

It was obvious why he had been given his codename – his brilliant white bodysuit made him look as if he was sculpted from living marble. His persona, by contrast, was a dark-furred wolf with burning, fiery eyes. Together, they charmed and frightened Shadows into submission.

Finally, Jaehee (Codename: Spark)  Zen’s stage manager and #1 fan. Jaehee had followed Zen into his own mind after her suspicions were raised… and once a few initial misunderstandings were resolved, she followed Zen to join the RFA – partially just to ensure he remained safe. In the other world, her every movement was followed with shimmering colour, as if any light that hit her body was reflected from a prism. Her persona, an angel in an office suit, would sign a requisition form that would always result in something unpleasant appearing before her opponents.

Working together to take money from the rich and give to the needy was a mission all of them embraced wholeheartedly. A passion that became the focus of their entire lives. And everything had been going so well, until, one day, Rika had disappeared without a trace.

V, fearing the worst, encouraged everyone to stop visiting the cognitive world. And for a time, they followed his orders.

But then, the members encountered rumours of Jumin Han, CEO-to-be of C&R International, being seen with an unknown golden-haired woman… who seemed very familiar to them all.

Jumin Han.

Your boss’ boss’ boss’ boss’ boss’ boss’ boss. (You just thought of him as your boss six times removed.)(This is a lie, you’ve never thought this.)(But man, that’s a lot of bosses).

And so, the RFA had re-formed, to locate and infiltrate Jumin’s Palace to see if they could learn anything new about Rika’s disappearance.

But getting to him, and learning his Palace’s keywords had been harder than they anticipated… so instead they were slowly jumping from Palace to Palace of his subordinates, looking for anything they could learn that might lead them to Jumin… which is when you’d accidentally stumbled onto their infiltration efforts.

-oOo-

You became a ery valuable member of the RFA in no time at all. Working your wayup through C&R employees, your skills and knowledge increased rapidly. But every time you made significant progress towards your goal… you began to notice a slow shift in the team’s dynamic.

At first, Luciel and Ray had always been on the main infiltration team, together. Their combined Persona was so powerful, it made working through Palaces a fairly straightforward task. The biggest challenges had been to work out how to unlock certain doors and break down other mental obstructions in your way.

More and more, though, Ray had been stepping back – “It’d just be overkill, right?” and instead, it was often Luciel, Vanderwood, and one other team member leading the charge against the Shadows.

You could see it hurt Luciel, but he always wore a smile when he extended his hand to you. “Hey, Atom. Back me up?”

He’d been the one to give you your code name.

“Why Atom?”

“Well… they’re small, and cute!” Luciel grinned, conveniently avoiding your eyes as he holstered the space pistol he used as a ranged weapon.

“Cheshire.” Jaehee runs a hand through her hair, sighing, as glimmering light trails her every movement. “I feel I’m going to regret asking, but what on earth is cute about an atom?”

“Spark-y~ How can you say that? Everything cute in the universe is made from atoms!”

Zen raises an eyebrow. “Ok, well, I didn’t do any of my science homework after about age 10, but I'm pretty sure _everything_ is atoms - although I won’t argue the cute part!” He turns to you, with a perfect smile. "Are you going to be okay with a name like that?"

“Well…” You’re still dealing with how you felt when you heard Luciel call you ‘cute’. “I… don’t really have any problems with it.”

“See? It’s perfect for them!” And he grins, and giggles a little, and something about the sound makes a small, warm and delicate sensation begin to grow deep in your heart…

-oOo-

Luciel presses his forehead against yours. “I promise you, okay?”

Sitting here, this close to him... your face begins to burn up. "Oh... okay, then."

"I'd never... do anything that I thought would stop me from seeing you, you know."

You don’t know what to say. Here, in this attic the twins share, you feel as if you’ve stepped into an entirely different universe.

A universe, just for the two of you…

“You know what I mean when I say that, right?”

“Luciel…” You pull away, and his deep golden eyes study your face intently, a hopeful look written across his face. “I… just once, could you… could you tell me clearly? I don’t want to assume things...”

When he responds, his voice is the most serious you’ve ever heard it. “What I mean is…”

He cups your face in his hands.

“What I mean is…. I love you. And, I’ll tell you that more than just once, if you’ll let me.”

-oOo-

“Hah. Well, now I understand your problem. I do not possess a Palace.”

You stare at Jumin, dumbfounded. “But… how?”

Never, in your entire life at the company, have you seen Jumin Han, CEO-to-be smile the way he does now.

It’s charming, but mostly, just unnerving. He seems to be enjoying himself.

“Perhaps because my desires are not so twisted as they might appear? I follow my sense of justice, and I do my best by my family. I am, you could say, the perfect man.”

Behind you, Zen snorts with disgust. Jumin ignores it.

“If you had approached me sooner, I could have assisted you. Instead, you’ve taken such a long journey to finally come face to face. And my father…”

His brow furrows.

“My father… has deteriorated considerably over that time.” He gestures at the door to the boardroom behind him. “Let me fill in some gaps in your information.”

-oOo-

“You used the experiments your father has been conducting with Rika to enter the other world… on your own?”

“Yes,” Jumin states simply. You can’t help but feel, however, that underneath it all, he’s incredibly relieved that the RFA found him. “But I didn’t know anything about stealing Treasures, so I was uncertain how to further pursue the matter on my own.”

“So _that’s_ why you don’t have a Palace! It’s just ‘coz you have your Persona!” Zen exclaims. “I _knew_ it wasn’t because you were a perfect man!!”

Jumin stares at him dispassionately. “I don’t see why having a Persona necessarily causes my earlier statement to become false.”

“God… this guy is a jerk. Do we really have to work with him?”

Out of the corner of your eye, you see Ray watching the proceedings with a dark look on his face.

-oOo-

“707! Come to me!” Luciel calls, as his body is wreathed with flames, and a ginning, spectacled cat forms behind him. Its smile continues to move from place to place while the rest of its body remains still. “I don’t want to fight you, Ray. But I won’t let you harm everyone else.”

Ray doesn’t respond, crying out only a single word. “Unknown!”

Before, his persona had been all ice and claws, a snowstorm of white cats racing from out of nowhere to fight at his side. But what appears behind him now is a single, large leopard, formed from all the cats merged together as one – with missing cats in its body where the spots should be. Each cat meows independently, creating a cacophony of sound that shakes the walls of the Palace around you. And each cat is blindfolded, confused… and furious.

-oOo-

 Ray falls to his knees. Luciel rushes to his side in an instant, gathering him in his arms. He turns back to the rest of you. “He’s alive, but it took a lot to take him down! We-” He glances ahead, towards the next area of the human zoo that is Jumin’s father’s mind. “We have to get him to a hospital, he-”

“But today is the only day we can take my father’s Treasure, isn’t it?” Jumin’s voice is calm and matter of fact. Beside him, his Persona watches silently, hovering a few feet above a giant, rotating pentagram, clattering its bones.

“Can’t you see he’s injured?! What kind of monster are you?” Zen growls, glaring at Jumin like he had just smelled something rotten. Which, given’s Jumin’s Persona, he may well have. “And unsummon your goddamn creepy Persona already.”

“No… he’s right.” Luciel’s voice is weak. “If we don’t change his father’s heart today, then things will get far, far harder.”

“If I don’t… stop you from stealing the Treasure today…” You only hear Ray’s words because you are knelt beside Luciel. The sound barely makes it to your ears. “Then we’re both going to die…”

“What?! Why?” Luciel leans in, and everyone else draws close.

“...psychological trauma…” his brother breathes, painfully. “It’s not just the bullets… to keep me connected to the other world… she linked me to a device… constant… energy… hurting… if I don’t listen, it hurts even more…”

“God… Ray… why didn’t you… I would have helped, we would have helped you!”

He gives Luciel a weak smile. “Hah… I know… but she has the ability to do it to you too, with enough time… to shift to your mind’s frequency… I thought… it’d be enough… if it was just me…”

And he passes out.

“God…” Luciel stares down at his brother’s unconscious form.

Jumin surprises everyone, by stepping forward and placing a single hand on the distraught brother’s shoulder. “Well, then. It seems it is time to leave, now that we know that there is more at stake than simply convincing my father to cease his work with Rika.”

“But…”

“If stealing my father’s Treasure will lead to either of your deaths, then I decline to participate.”

Luciel looks up at Jumin, clad in dark, eerie robes, and smiles gratefully. “Thanks… Necromancer…”

-oOo-

The hospital room and care Jumin has secured for Ray is top of the line.

“My doctor has agreed to keep him unconscious, for the time being.” Jumin reports, after a whispered discussion with the private staff. “From what we have gathered of how that world works, this may shield Ray somewhat from further ranged psychological attacks.”

Vanderwood pokes a long nose out of Luciel’s bag. “That’s excellent thinking. It won’t be perfect, but it should give him a little protection at least. He’ll have all his mental resources available to defend himself in that state.” The small fox pauses. “But… he’ll be fighting it every minute between now and us resolving this mess. We can’t wait long.”

“So, if we can destroy Rika’s hold over him, then…?”

“He should be safe to wake up, at that point.” Vanderwood rubs a paw over his nose, briefly. “Probably.” He notices the stares of everyone else in the room. “Look,quick reminder: just a fox. I might have been fused with the Shadows into what I am now, but I don’t know _everything_ , okay?”

-oOo-

“I can’t believe… this is where she has been this entire time…” Yoosung looks at the sight before the assembled RFA in horror.

Jaehee stares on with disbelief. “I can’t believe it’s possible to fuse two Palaces together this way…”

In front of you all, lies a mind-bendingly horrific sight. The way the two Palaces have merged into a single, labyrinthine structure defies any real-world logic.

One of the palaces… clearly was some kind of pristine, sanitised laboratory. Glimmering, germless tables and beakers, bunsen burners glowing with a holy light. And throughout, biological specimens arranged neatly onto blank canvases, print-outs of heartbeats and brainwaves detailed in gold and silver, lit up like exhibitions in an art museum.

And on beautiful, clean white marble slates… copies of Rika lie, silent and still. Every copy of her body has had some kind of autopsy performed on it, delicate, perfect precision cuts revealing what lies beneath.

From what you had learned… this half had been V’s palace.

But it was no longer just V’s Palace. Fused together in a sickening, dizzying mish-mash of sight and sound, was Rika’s Palace.

It was hell. Literally, absolutely hell. Fire, brimstone, demons… and screams.

“V and Rika… only some massive mental trauma could have fused their psyches this way. They must have experienced so much shared pain...”

“They did it to themselves…” Yoosung breathes. “I never knew… she felt like this… I never knew… she could do this… to herself.”

Luciel says nothing, but his hands clench into fists. You take one fist in your hands and squeeze it, gently. He turns to you, masked eyes burning in the light of hell itself.

“Let’s end this.”

-oOo-

Of course.

Rika and V. They are each other’s Treasure.

You gaze at Rika - the real Rika - who has spent so much time over the last year and a half living in this literal hellscape, listening to the whispers of her Shadow self, and slowly taking more and more control of Ray through the ammunition he was forced to use to summon his Persona.

V had known, the whole time. And apparently, he had done nothing.

_She was his Treasure..._

Rika laughs at your shocked stares, as she slowly slips off the lap of her crooning Shadow self, who follows behind her with reverence.

“I couldn’t sit still once I’d discovered that devil inside me, you know…” she smiles sweetly, and the Shadow Rika shrieks with delight. “They wouldn’t let me spend time with her… they wouldn’t let me finish my work on the device… it didn’t fit into their petty political games.”

She stops, halfway down the bloody stairs that lead to her throne, and gestures to the world around her. “Look at this. This is truth. This is the self, unfettered. No more lying. No more masks. Just truth. Just the self, as we really are.”

Behind her, her Shadow begins to groan, as large, bladed wings begin to pierce through her back.

“This… this darkness, these Shadows… this is heaven on earth. This is paradise.” Rika stares down at your small group, and her face grows serious. “I’ll love everyone’s true self… I’ll love all of your darkness… and in return, you will all love me. I’ll spread this gift to the world… now that I have V’s willing mind to form the engine for my Elixir… a balm to be applied directly to humanity’s soul.”

She continues her descent down the stairs, as her Shadow screams once more. You hear the sound of many, many knives being unsheathed as its wings rise, free at last. Her Shadow takes to the sky, rattling its bladed appendages fiercely. “Now… it has been a long time coming. Become part of my paradise. Help me bring everyone to this world of truth.”

Of all the people you expected to respond, you didn’t think it would be Yoosung. His eyes are streaming with tears, and they pool awkwardly around his mask. “Rika… this isn’t truth… this is just people’s delusions. It’s just their fantasies… this isn’t the real world…” His voice quivers. “Please… come back with us. Don’t… don’t do this.”

“Oh, Yoosung.” Rika smiles, as her Shadow creates a storm of fire and metal in the sky above. “The illusions are my reality now… these illusions are my heart. Nothing can be more real than that, don’t you think?”

“Stop this.” Luciel says, softly. “And leave my brother alone.”

“Perhaps you all need to understand just how real this place is,” Rika shrugs, and points at the RFA members with one delicate, beautiful finger. “Show them.”

And the bladed, golden nightmare descends.

-oOo-  


As each new form arises, you strike it down, each of you bringing your own skills to bear against the constant onslaught from Rika’s Shadow.

Spending so much time in her own Palace has made her so much more unhinged - and so much more dangerous.

Finally, you reach a point where no matter how hard you push, it seems impossible to damage her further. She and her Shadow have become one, not a Persona, but not a person, either. Her eyes send you all falling with beams of terrible light again and again.

And then, a lone figure walks into view before you.

“V!” thunders the sound of a thousand blades all at once.

He smiles, so small, and so fragile, against the sharp and screaming storm.

“Is that the real V?” Zen asks breathlessly, wiping sweat from his brow.

Vanderwood stares in confusion. “I… I don’t know. It might just be her cognition of V… or his Shadow…”

V looks over his shoulder at all of you. “It’s just me. Rika already has my Shadow powering the device she created to bring this world across the mental barriers… it’s just me, now.”

Jaehee steps forward, wincing in pain from her injuries. “But… you can’t use a Persona! What are you doing here?”

“It doesn’t matter what he’s doing here. He’s our enemy, too.” Luciel’s voice is dark, and hollow.

V smiles, softly, again. “I’m sorry… Luciel… but I’m going to make it right, now.” And he turns to Rika.

“V, get out of my way, or I’ll-”

“Rika.” He smiles, blissfully. “Did you know, my cognitive self, the me that exists in your heart, just told me something very, very special?”

The storm of blades approaches, wheels around him, knives, swords and daggers whirling inches from his face. Between the weapons, glimpses of a gold, green-eyed angel come through, although each glimpse is over so fast it’s as if it never happened at all.

“He told me all about your heart… about the things I never really understood…”

Rika’s voice comes through the blades, soft, and yet, so loud it shakes the earth. “In my heart… I always knew you would betray me.” She continues, her voice merging with the metallic clang of weaponry once more. “Is that all? So you’re here to heal me, take me back to the light with your love, again? Will you continue to refuse the demon inside me from being?!”

“No…” V responds, just as gently as before. “I’ve come to love your demon…” And without any warning, he leaps forwards, faster than Rika can react, and the whirling blades of her shadow pierce his body multiple times over from a myriad of directions.

“I’m a part of your darkness, now…” V’s voice rings out across the hellish landscape, which begins to rumble and shudder.

“NO!” Rika’s blades fall to the ground, as she separates from her Shadow and runs to her ex-lover’s side. “NO! You can’t… we can’t… I killed him… I killED HIM”. Behind her, Shadow Rika slowly re-forms, blades gravitating towards a slowly-forming body, as if it were magnetic.

Rika’s hand reaches for one of the knives, and she stands, screaming. Her Shadow moves back in surprise - but not quickly enough, as she plunges the knife deep into its face.

“Rika!” Yoosung screams, but Vanderwood is already nipping at his heels. “We have to get out of here, now!”

“But-!” He’s silenced, as Zen’s wolf Persona scoops up the shell-shocked boy into its jaws and sprints with him as if it was carrying a pup.

“Sorry!” Zen calls, sprinting as hard as he can behind his other self.

“Yes. React later. Run now.” Jumin advises, poking a stunned Luciel into action, as you all make haste towards a place where you can safely exit the slowly crumbling, fused Palaces.

-oOo-

“He should be conscious any minute now,” the nurse advises, as you all crowd around Ray’s bed. “But I can’t say I recommend this many people… and is that…?”

“It’s just a stuffed toy. A gift.” Jaehee advises the nurse, and Vanderwood does his best to look immobile.

“Right… well, please don’t crowd him too much.”

The nurse is right. Ray begins to stir maybe ten minutes after she leaves.

Luciel leans over him, holding his hands, while you stay close by his side for comfort.

Ray’s eyes open, and slowly focus on the worried face of his brother. “You look like hell…” he breathes, coughing and attempting to sit upright. But, halfway up on his elbows, he pauses, and his eyes widen.

“The pain… in my head… I can’t feel it anymore.” He looks over at Luciel. “What did you… hey, stop crying…”

“Y-you’re crying t-too…!” his brother responds, looking like it’s taking every single remaining bit of his strength not to completely suffocate his brother with hugs.

“Haha… I guess I am. But it’s okay.”

Outside, billboards scream about pricey cars, televisions blare the latest gossip, and politicians make promises that will be impossible for them to keep.

But here, inside, there is no sound but that of two hearts that are finally experiencing a  peace that before now, they had never known.

“For the first time… it’s the good kind of crying.”

**Author's Note:**

> Vydra is “otter” in Czech ^^ Why Czech? Because it sounded cool. YEAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH [sunglasses]


End file.
